Using a multimodal discursive approach, this study explores how the COVID-19 pandemic is constructed and used in press reportage to mobilize intergroup relations and national identities. We examine how press reporting about the development of COVID-19 in Sweden is cast as a matter of nationalism and national stereotyping in the Finnish press. The data consist of 183 images with accompanying headlines and captions published in two Finnish national newspapers between January 1 and August 31, 2020. We found three multimodal rhetorical strategies of stereotyping: moralizing, demonizing, and nationalizing. These strategies construct discourses of arrogant, immoral, and dangerous Swedes sourcing from national stereotypes. The study contributes to current knowledge about the work on national stereotypes by illustrating how they are used in media discourse to achieve certain rhetorical ends, such as to persuade, mitigate, or justify intergroup relations. Furthermore, the study offers insight into the multimodal constructions and functions of stereotypes.

本研究采用多模式话语方法，探讨了如何构建COVID-19大流行并在新闻报道中用于动员群体间的关系和民族认同。我们研究了芬兰新闻界如何将新闻报道报道瑞典的COVID-19的发展作为民族主义和国家定型观念的问题。数据包含2020年1月1日至2020年8月31日在两家芬兰国家报纸上刊登的183张图像以及随附的标题和标题。我们发现了三种定型的多模态修辞策略：道德化，妖魔化和国有化。这些策略从国家的刻板印象中构造了傲慢，不道德和危险的瑞典人资源的论述。这项研究通过说明如何在媒体话语中使用它们来实现某些修辞目的，例如说服，减轻或证明群体间关系，为当前有关民族成见的工作提供了新的知识。此外，该研究提供了对刻板印象的多模式构造和功能的见解。